Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printer composed of an upper unit and a lower unit, and more particularly, to an opening/closing apparatus for opening and closing an upper unit relative to a lower unit, and a printer having the opening/closing apparatus.
Related Art
A printer composed of an upper unit and a lower unit conventionally has a structure in which the upper unit opens relative to the lower unit for maintenance or other purposes. Printers having such a structure are disclosed, for example, in JP 2001-158547 A and JP 2009-119827 A.
A thermal printer disclosed in JP 2001-158547 A has a lower unit that includes a print section having a thermal head and a motor for feeding paper, and an upper unit that includes a platen. The upper unit is mounted at a side portion along a paper feed direction such that it can open and close laterally relative to the thermal head. The lower unit is provided with a planetary gear mechanism that is driven by the motor and meshes with a platen gear of the upper unit when the upper unit is placed on the thermal head and the motor is energized.
With this, it is intended to solve problems such as damage to gears and a meshing failure due to a collision between a platen gear and a drive gear when an upper unit is closed, which occurs in a thermal printer with a laterally opening and closing structure in which the pivot center of an upper unit is provided at a side portion of the apparatus along a direction parallel to a paper feed direction, and the upper unit is opened in a direction orthogonal to the paper feed direction.
A printer disclosed in JP 2009-119827 A has, in order to provide a printer in which a guide roller does not interfere with an operation of changing an ink ribbon or a roll, and a reduction in an apparatus width, a guide roller placed on the inner side of a cover, supported by a guide roller support member, in which by closing the cover, the guide roller support member is inserted, from between the pair of arms, between the print unit and the roll support unit to dispose the guide roller in a given position. This printer has a hinge at a back portion, and has a structure in which an upper casing opens upward at the front side.
The printer disclosed in JP 2001-158547 A opens only in a lateral direction while having a paper ejection side of the printer at the front. The printer disclosed in JP 2009-119827 A opens only in a rear direction.
Therefore, the printer disclosed in JP 2001-158547 A is difficult to maintain in a place with no space in a lateral direction because the upper unit cannot be opened. The printer disclosed in JP 2009-119827 A is difficult to maintain in a place with no space in a rear direction because the upper unit cannot be opened.
In view of these problems in the art, it is intended to provide an opening/closing apparatus that allows an upper portion of a printer to be opened both in a lateral direction and in a rear direction, and a printer having the opening/closing apparatus.
Accordingly, a printer may advantageously include a print section having a platen roller for feeding paper and a thermal head for printing on paper fed thereby; a lower unit including one of the platen roller and the thermal head; and an upper unit including the other of the platen roller and the thermal head, the upper unit being able to be opened in a first mode at a front ejection opening side, the upper unit being able to be fully opened in a second mode by unfolding the upper unit such that one side surface of the upper unit faces upward and the other side surface of the upper unit faces downward.
A printer may further include a print section having a platen roller for feeding paper and a thermal head for printing on paper fed thereby; a lower unit including one of the platen roller and the thermal head; an upper unit including the other of the platen roller and the thermal head; a first pivot support portion provided along a direction parallel to a longitudinal direction of the platen roller, the first pivot support portion pivotably supporting the upper unit relative to the lower unit; and a second pivot support portion provided along a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the platen roller, the second pivot support portion pivotably supporting one end portion of the first pivot support portion.
Thus, the upper unit of the printer can be opened and closed both in a rear direction and in a lateral direction.
In the described printer, the first pivot support portion advantageously has a biasing portion for biasing the upper unit in a direction in which the upper unit is opened relative to the lower unit. With this, the upper unit of the printer can be easily maintained in a state of opening in a rear direction.
The printer may further include a locking portion that allows the upper unit to be locked and unlocked into a closed state and an open state relative to the lower unit.
Thus, the upper unit can be prevented from opening unnecessarily.
Furthermore, in the printer, the first pivot support portion is preferably provided at the upper unit; and a connecting portion is provided at the lower unit, the connecting portion pivotably supporting the upper unit on the first pivot support portion, and pivotably supporting the first pivot support portion on the second pivot support portion in an attachable and detachable manner. Thus, the upper unit of the printer can be pivoted without wobbling in a rear direction, and also can be pivoted easily in a lateral direction.
In the printer also, the first pivot support portion and the upper unit may be provided with a restricting portion that restricts the amount of pivoting of the upper unit that pivots on the first pivot support portion. Thus, the opening width in a rear direction can be made constant.
Further, the first pivot support portion may be constituted by a member having elasticity.
Furthermore, the connecting portion may have a first groove for supporting one end portion of the first pivot support portion that is supported by the second pivot support portion, and a second groove for supporting the other end portion of the first pivot support portion, the first groove having an opening formed to face vertically upward, the second groove having an opening formed at an inclination with respect to a vertically top portion. Thus, the upper unit can be pivoted toward the rear without wobbling.
The second groove may be formed with a protruding portion at which an inner wall of the groove is protruded on a path of the other end portion of the first pivot support portion when the first pivot support portion pivots on the second pivot support portion. Thus, the upper unit can be pivoted toward the rear without wobbling.
Further, an opening/closing apparatus may include a lower unit; an upper unit that is openable and closable relative to the lower unit; a first pivot support portion constituting a pivot whereby the upper unit is opened or closed in a first direction; and a second pivot support portion for supporting one end portion of the first pivot support portion, the second pivot support portion constituting a pivot whereby the upper unit is opened or closed in a second direction that is different from the first direction. Thus, the upper unit can be opened and closed both in a rear direction and in a lateral direction.
In the opening/closing apparatus, the first pivot support portion may have a biasing portion for biasing the upper unit in a direction in which the upper unit is released relative to the lower unit. Thus, the upper unit can be easily maintained in a state of opening in a rear direction.
The opening/closing apparatus may further include a locking portion that allows the upper unit to be locked and unlocked into a closed state and a released state relative to the lower unit. Thus, the upper unit can be prevented from opening when it is unnecessary.
Further, in the opening/closing apparatus, the first pivot support portion may be provided at the upper unit; and a connecting portion provided at the lower unit, the connecting portion pivotably supporting the upper unit on the first pivot support portion, and pivotably supporting the first pivot support portion on the second pivot support portion in an attachable and detachable manner. Thus, the upper unit of the printer can be pivoted without wobbling in a rear direction, and also can be easily pivoted in a lateral direction.
Furthermore, in the opening/closing apparatus, the first pivot support portion and the upper unit may be provided with a restricting portion for restricting the amount of pivoting of the upper unit that pivots on the first pivot support portion. Thus, the opening width in a rear direction can be made constant.
Also in the opening/closing apparatus, the first pivot support portion may be constituted by a member having elasticity.
The connecting portion may have a first groove for supporting one end portion of the first pivot support portion that is supported by the second pivot support portion, and a second groove for supporting the other end portion of the first pivot support portion, the first groove having an opening formed to face vertically upward, the second groove having an opening formed at an inclination with respect to a vertically top portion. Thus, the upper unit can be pivoted toward the rear without wobbling.
Furthermore, the second groove may be formed with a protruding portion at which an inner wall of the groove is protruded on a path of the other end portion of the first pivot support portion when the first pivot support portion pivots on the second pivot support portion.
Thus, the upper unit can be pivoted toward the rear without wobbling.
Thus, the disclosed opening/closing apparatus allows an upper portion of a printer to be opened both in a lateral direction and in a rear direction, and a printer with the opening/closing apparatus is described as well.